As you may know from my December newsletter, I was at the Sacred Space/Between the Worlds conference last week, and it was a doozy of a trip. About 350 magickal people from all traditions gathered to engage in powerful work for these Tower Times, as Byron Ballard so aptly calls this cusp of the aeon we are undergoing.

My friend Caroline Kenner asked me to write a quote or two she could use for the review she’s putting together for Witchvox.

But I went a little crazy and wrote a whole essay that I thought I’d share in its entirety with you.

I have been going to the Sacred Space Conference in Maryland for a number of years, and have watched it grow in beauty, power, and depth.

And this year, for the first time ever, the organizers decided to combine it with the less frequently offered Between the Worlds Conference.

Between The Worlds occurs when the stars indicate that such a gathering is needed and favored. It was invoked this year because March 16 will be the final clash of the seven exact squares between Uranus and Pluto that have been unfolding since 2012.

Most astrologers I know consider this five year showdown to be the defining game-changer for ours and the generations yet to come.

We were there to mitigate that influence, which Byron Ballard so aptly calls “Tower Times,” and weave our magical support to further the evolution and well-being of life.

So I had high expectations for this Brigadoon-like conference adding its power to the already superb Sacred Space Conference. But my wildest hopes were surpassed.

It started with a bit of chaos for me. Seeing the alarming weather forecast, my husband and I were forced to make a mad dash from North Carolina a day earlier than planned, or else risk being shut out by Winter Storm Thor, which was bearing down on Baltimore.

Yet this, too, added to the magic. Thursday dawned under whiteout storm conditions. The landscape around the hotel was erased, the highways were silent, and if you weren’t there already, it was unlikely you’d be arriving until much later, if at all (as one of the main presenters, Judika Illes, unfortunately experienced).

It was as if we were sealed in together, under a deep blanket of snow, truly in Sacred Space and Between the Worlds.

By Saturday, the melting was underway and by the time we drove home Sunday afternoon, we noted that the traces of snow remaining on the ground were identical to the day we drove up. I mean identical!! It was like we had stepped out of time, into a realm of magic, friendship, and wisdom, only to come back to a world where no time had passed.

And during the space between?

From the inspired opening ritual to the last farewell, the energy fairly crackled with the focused intent you can only get when you have hundreds of confident, powerful practitioners who are there to step up together on behalf of a world in need.

It was a magnificent blending of ritual, shared wisdom, teachings, thoughtful conversations, celebratory revels, and a sheltered time-out-of-time. Rarely have I felt such an undercurrent of intentional power that offered such generosity, and tenderness between presenters, organizers, and attendees.

But the recurring theme was a powerful challenge as well.

My Tarot reading for the week had been a rare appearance of Judgement, and without a doubt, every voice, every ceremony, every nuance, every chance encounter at the conference was a calling for each of us to take up our wands, our prayers, our power, and engage with a world that desperately needs what only we can offer.

I would not have missed this amazing conference for the world. My own path is richer, more sure, and blessed for having been touched by the countless souls who made this a truly epochal event.

Highest praises and thanks to blessed Athena, Thoth, the Guardians and Sacred Companions, the Priestesses, Priests, Teachers, Adepts, Leaders, Seers, and Guides (both embodied and not), the ASW, the organizers and visionaries, and every single soul who worked together, dreamed into being, and wove the spell that manifested this beautiful gathering.

Thank you for your hospitality, inspiration, and the gift of a true time out of time, where we made profound, aeon-awakening magic.